A Tough Morning; A Fun Weekend

Kai’s attempt to raise his average above the minimum required to earn back his Level 4 privileges at school fell short last week. Though he was partially a victim of circumstances.

It came down to his performance at school on Friday. If he could have a good day, he would regain his lost privileges.

Unfortunately, he never really had a chance.

One of the boys that Kai shares a taxi with in the morning threw up in the cab. The driver turned around to take the boy home. Between the change in the route, the delay in getting to school, and the odor of the vomit, Kai was overwhelmed.

He had an emotional meltdown in the cab and was in no shape to go to his classroom when he arrived at school. The staff took him to the nurse’s office as he was screaming that he was sick and wanted to go home. Eventually he calmed down, and when they took his temperature and he saw that it was normal, he agreed that he was not sick. He went on to have a decent day, but the zero for first period was too much to overcome.

But he will have a chance to raise his average again this week. Though we are worried about how he will do today. Yesterday as we talked about school, he expressed anger at the poor boy who threw up and at the cab driver. He still has trouble feeling empathy, even though he himself threw up in a cab not all that long ago.

Oh well, here’s hoping it goes okay this morning.

* * * * *

When Kai was very young (two or three years old), he was afraid of dogs, especially those that were more active and came near him. So it was amazing to see him with Riley this weekend.

We have known Riley since she was just a few weeks old, and now at a year and a half, she still has the energy and playfulness of a puppy. Except now she is the size of a small bear.

She jumps all over me and Kai whenever she comes over. It can be a little much to have an excited bear all over you, but Kai doesn’t mind at all. He laughs and laughs and loves to grab her toy and run around and have Riley chase him.

And they didn’t just play chase inside the house. They had a lot of fun running around in the backyard as well.

We don’t get too many chances to see Kai interacting with other kids. But if his interactions with Riley are any indication, he is coming along just fine.